(a) Field of the Invention
The present invention relates in general to a lifting device and more particularly to a device that will lift and tilt an object in a single plane alone or in two planes simultaneously.
(b) Description of the Prior Art
Lifting devices or hoists that can be adjsted to tilt a load have been well known in the art. As an example, U.S. Pat. No. 1,649,364 to Peterson reveals a body hoist used by undertakers in the 1920's to tilt a corpse. More recently U.S. Pat. No. 2,412,488 to Austin describes an engine lifting harness that contains a tilting device. Also U.S. Pat. No. 3,751,097 to Jones et al describes another adjustable engine lift and U.S. Pat. No. 4,431,223 describes an engine lift tool. All of these devices tilt a load in a single plane. The present invention is capable of tilting a load in a single plane or in the orthogonal plane simultaneously. The present invention is not directed soley to lifting a engine. On the contrary, the present invention can lift a load out of a tight place, such as equipment aboard ships or submarines, which heretofore would involve two or more cranes simultaneously. This operation while being costly is also dangerous in that an excessive amount of equipment is crowded into a small space. Many times generators and electrical platforms, air compressors and associated equipment are not balanced at their lifting points, for example, when part of the equipment has been removed from the equipment platform. The present invention can be adjusted such that any unbalanced equipment can be made to lie perfectly level when hoisting the equipment and when loading, for example, on the flatbed of a truck.
There are no known devices that can adjust a load in two planes simultaneously and therefore there exists a long felt need.